Scorn poured on Irish Water explanation for leak in County Limerick town

Reporter:

Norma Prendiville

10 Jun 2018

0

The councillor rejected Irish Water’s explanation that a water flow in Newcastle West was due to surface water

FIANNA Fail councillor Michael Collins has rejected Irish Water’s explanation that a water flow outside the library at Gortboy, Newcastle West is due to surface water.

“I don’t believe it,” he told the Limerick Leader.

According to a spokesman for Irish Water, it and Limerick City and County Council followed up on a report of a leak at Gortboy.

“The issue was investigated and it appears that this is not a burst or leaking water main and is in fact a surface water issue which is not within Irish Water’s remit,” the spokesman said,

However, Cllr Michael Collins remains unconvinced.

“How could it be surface water in this weather?” he asked. “Where is the surface water coming from? There is no surface water going into the ground in this warm weather.”

And he has again contacted Irish Water to ask them to investigate what is causing this so-called surface water.

The councillor, whose term as chairman of the Newcastle West Municipal District ends later this month, claims to be “frustrated” by lack of local knowledge within Irish Water, which is causing difficulties for councillors reporting problems.

An ongoing outage at Crean, near Strand is a case in point, he argued. He has been told the issue is being investigated but when the Limerick Leader enquired about an outage in Strand, there was no information to hand.

“Before, you could talk to the local engineer, or meet him on site,” Cllr Collins said. “Unfortunately, we don’t have that privilege now. We have to take everything at face value.”

A dedicated phone line has been set up for councillors to contact Irish Water personnel directly.

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